New archbishop for Papua New Guinea

Author:

George Conger

The seventh primate of the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea was enthroned yesterday at All Souls Church in Lae. Bishops from Australia, Melanesia, England and New Zealand joined the House of Bishops of the ACPNG on 3 Sept 2017 to install the Most Rev. Allan Rirme Migi (58) as archbishop in succession to the Most Rev. Clyde Igara.

At its July provincial council meeting, the 5-member house of bishop selected Bishop Migi, the church’s senior bishop, to fill the vacant post. A native of Gasmata in West New Britain, he was consecrated Bishop of the New Guinea Islands in 2000 and will be based at the church’s provincial office in Lae in Morobe province in November. “I am happy to be selected to this position in the church and am ready to work with church members and other denominations as well as the government to deliver spiritual and human interest services,” the new bishop told reporters at the service Sunday.

The ACPNG has approximately 230,000 members in its five dioceses, spread across Western New Guinea and Papua. During the colonial period the island was divided by missionaries organizations into sectors of influence, and ecumenical relations between Anglicans, Catholics, Lutherans and Presbyterians are strong on the local and national levels.

Syncretism and tribal divisions coupled with the social, economic and health issues affecting the country have been areas of particular focus for the church. Archbishop Migi said the Anglican Church must have a strong base in order to address the needs facing its people.

“I want to make sure there is unity in the church especially at all levels of the church starting from the local chapels, parishes, deanaries and diocese,” the new archbishop said. “This will strengthen the church partnership with sister churches and Anglican partners abroad.”